The EU could have slapped bigger fines on US tech giants sooner, but enforcement is dragging its feet, hurting digital markets and consumers. In Munich, Gerhard Trautmann’s Unterlassungsklage against Google over a “spam policy” that downgraded voucher links from Atolls and partner publishers was ultimately deemed outside the court’s jurisdiction, signaling a broader enforcement gap in Europe. Atolls, a Munich voucher intermediary, works with big media brands and relies on clicks and commissions; Google’s 2024 policy shift barred certain collaborations to fight “parasitic” page optimization, pushing those links far down in search results and upending Atolls’ business model. The DMA, effective since March 2024, aims to curb self‑preferencing by dominant platforms like Google, Amazon, and Booking.com, but enforcement remains uneven amid rising transatlantic tensions. Meanwhile the EU fined Meta and Apple about €700 million in April 2025, but critics like Thomas Höppner say penalties are modest and key cases—especially Google’s self‑preferencing in search results—haven’t been decisively resolved. Politicians such as Andreas Schwab and Alexandra Geese call for swifter action, while suspicions grow that geopolitical strains are throttling the Commission’s willingness to impose multibillion‑euro penalties or settle major cases promptly. On the US side, officials’ warnings and threats from Trump and others intensify the climate, even as US courts have ruled Google monopolizes certain markets, underscoring a global contest over how aggressively to enforce competition rules against tech giants.

Fuh, ach du meine Güte, look at this circus. Brussels dithers like a sleepy dachshund while the mega‑killers of the digital realm roll their eyes and jam the brakes on competition. The DMA is supposed to be a real thing, but it feels like a paper badge you can blow away with a brisk wind. They brag about “self‑preferencing” but you can hear the squeak of the brakes every time a major case hits a snag—case after case, year after year, and all the while Google can rearrange results and control the game from the top of a mountain of data and dollars. And if you think the penalties are crippling, you’re kidding yourself. €700 million for Meta and Apple? That’s not a punch; that’s a nudge with a damp towel. The EU’s enforcement is slow, uneven, and frankly half‑hearted when the big US players whiff the rules and threaten with the mighty “we’ll move markets, you’ll lose users.” It’s not just red tape; it’s a full‑on feint that protects profits while everyday consumers get stuck in the long queue.

Brussels acts like it’s negotiating with a stubborn opponent who never actually concedes a thing. The US‑EU standoff isn’t just geopolitics; it’s a battle over who writes the rules for a digital global economy, and right now the EU looks like someone’s grandmother trying to out‑cheat a professional card shark. The timing, the language, the pauses—it's all part of a strategy to avoid real financial blood on the table while the engines of the greatest tech platforms keep turning. If this is enforcement, it’s enforcement by lullaby: soothing words, slow clocks, and a fine that’s more story than sting. And yes, the politics behind it—threats from Trump, court rulings about monopoly power, transatlantic tension—are being used as cover to delay penalties or settlements that would actually change behavior. Das ist kein Zufall, das ist deliberate pacing.

Here’s what should happen, in plain Sachsen terms: drop the theatre, speed up the courts, empower real, binding remedies, and slap multibillion‑euro penalties on repeated offenders when they game the system. Make enforcement credible, not a wish list. If Google can flip a policy and bury voucher links, there must be consequences that hurt enough to deter the next move. No more excuses about jurisdiction, or internal investigations, or “we’re near a decision.” The digital market isn’t a sandbox for showboating; it’s where real money, real jobs, and real consumer choice live. If the EU won’t punch, the market will start to punch back in ways that regulators won’t like. The time for bold moves isn’t tomorrow; it’s yesterday. Let’s get serious, or admit you’re content watching the giants call the shots and squeeze the little players dry.